shirebound
· 15 February 2007
· Chapter 27: Merry's Wedding
That's truly lovely, Larner. I especially love the pride and respect with which the adults think of Frodo.
Author's reply
I'm so glad you appreciated it, Shirebound. It's all the fault of those who've been coming out with Valentines stories, you must realize--suddenly the talk of how Frodo had done the "first" wedding of Merry and Estella had to be showed. And I think even then Frodo's native grace would have begun to be expressed, and that this was partly why both Saradoc and Bilbo treasured him as they did.
AspenJules
· 15 February 2007
· Chapter 27: Merry's Wedding
*laughs* I'm all teary too, Pearl... right along with you and Bilbo. I love that the 'wise' older hobbits understod the importance of letting the young ones have their play. Good for old Rorimac, both for letting Merry have the sword to "do it up right" and for teaching both Frodo and Sara the importance of holding on to childhood for as long as possible. His words to Frodo were touchingly prophetic, which is why I think it brought me to tears. Frodo never *did* get to see the real wedding, but they all had the memory of the first one done right, with their beloved Frodo right where he belonged, hearing their vows. I enjoyed this, Larner, even if it did make me weepy!
Author's reply
I'm so very glad you liked it, AspenJules. Yes, children need to play, as it's in part a rehearsal for what we will do as adults. And Rory would be of an age to appreciate just how wonderful and necessary play is, and would want both of these he loved to appreciate that truth. And life is so very tenuous at times, a fact best appreciated, I think, by those approaching the end of their own lives. And I can't keep foreshadowing out of my stories, apparently. Am so glad this moved you.
Pearl Took
· 15 February 2007
· Chapter 27: Merry's Wedding
"Why, even we adults play at times, you realize—we have to, or we’d die of solemnity."
This is a marvelous story, Larner! I'm all teary, mostly over the reactions of Sara and Bilbo.
Excellently Well Done!! :-)
Author's reply
Thank you so much, Pearl. I do sort of wish either Pearl or Narcissa (or Lily Proudfoot or some of the other proposed loves I've seen written for Frodo) had indeed been able to give Frodo the love of wife and family he deserved. And both Sara and Bilbo served as surrogate father to Frodo, after all.
Dreamflower
· 15 February 2007
· Chapter 27: Merry's Wedding
This was so sweet! I know you've mentioned it before from time to time, so it's very nice to see you put the whole story down.
I love all the serious attention to detail the children gave to their play, while never losing sight of the fact that it *was* play. And I really enjoyed the attitude of both Bilbo and old Rory!
And of course, it does appear the marriage "took", doesn't it? *grin*
Author's reply
Somehow I managed not to respond to this one. Am so sorry!
I do think if Merry were involved he would want details right; and I so wanted to see how Frodo did in this one.
And, of course that wedding "took." It was officiated over by the best Hobbit in the Shire, after all! Heh!
Antane
· 10 February 2007
· Chapter 26: O Merry Mine
Hantanyel for these looks into the lives of these three brothers. :) Bilbo would have been very good in letting Frodo do everything and become the hobbit Iluvatar had made him to be.
Namarie, God bless, Antane :)
Author's reply
Oh, I agree completely, Antane. Thanks so much for the response.
harrowcat
· 9 February 2007
· Chapter 26: O Merry Mine
Lovely pictures spread over so much time. I especially loved the last one and the one with little Pippin in the bed too.
We actually had snow here yesterday! Chaos reigned in London although it is all but gone now. Dad has banned me from driving home today so I get a chance to catch up with the reviews! But I did want to see Jet in the snow! *pouts*
Author's reply
Of course we had to have little tiny Pippin crawling into bed and doing what little ones that age do best, after all. And that last one was a given, of course, but the most desirable wakening of all with Frodo's presence, from Merry's point of view, I'd think.
Too bad about not getting to see Jet playing in the snow. My daughter's dog Princess just went wild when it snowed here--went running about the property playing in the snow, leaping and bounding, scooping up snow in her mouth and then spitting it out.
Have a lovely time, and give my love to your folks and Jet. Was down visiting a friend and her guide dog, who gave me lots of guide dog waggles, then stole the dog toy I'd intended to bring home to Belinda. She was having such a great time with it I couldn't bear to take it away from her.
Linda Hoyland
· 9 February 2007
· Chapter 26: O Merry Mine
This was very moving about the life long and beyond bond between Merry and Frodo. I was blinking away a tear at the end.
Author's reply
To know I've managed to evoke such an emotion is a great honor, Linda. Thanks so very much!
Elemmírë
· 9 February 2007
· Chapter 26: O Merry Mine
I really, really enjoyed this one, Larner! I myself often enjoy implementing the use of a flashbask or spanning a tale over the years in my own writing and you did it so well here.
Great job in writing Frodo and Merry's voices as well, from their child pov through adult. They were both very 'in character.'
Very enjoyable, from beginning to end, although I was amused to see Frodo write that Aunt Dora darned all my socks.
Looking forward to the next 'Moment in Time.'
~Elemmírë~
Author's reply
Am so glad you like the repeat of the wakening sequence over the years. It's fun to do from time to time, and I've appreciated it in your tales as well.
Auntie Dora was a practical one, after all, and I think her industry once she moved in must have amazed Frodo. And am so glad you feel I got the voices right.
Thank you so very much for the response, Elemmire.
Author Reply: And you're right about the socks--Man--I WAS tired when I wrote that one. Heh!
Kitty
· 9 February 2007
· Chapter 26: O Merry Mine
Merry and Frodo are so cute together! That's a wonderful look at their relationship over the years and how often Frodo woke up with his cousin at his side (and lying on his arm *grin*), no matter the circumstances.
Frodo explained very well to his little cousin why he had to go to Bag End, I think. It can't have been easy to explain that in a way which was understandable for a little lad but clear enough for Merry to understand that it was serious.
And the nightmares as foreshadows of the Quest were intriguing. I wonder if they later recognised that they had dreamt of it before?
Author's reply
Well, all three had strong Fallohide backgrounds, and so were all likely to have prescient dreams from time to time, or so I'd think. If they'd remember the dreams when what they foreshadowed happened is an interesting question, and I'm not certain they necessarily would. I know I've had some odd prescient dreams of my own over the years, and have had strong feelings of deja vu often throughout the years, mostly when I was a kid and teenager.
And having had my former fosterson lying on my own arm and putting it to sleep more than once, I had to see how Frodo put up with the same situation. Glad it gave you a grin.
But trying to explain why he felt he had to leave the Hall must have been difficult indeed.
Thanks so much for the review, Kitty.
Bodkin
· 9 February 2007
· Chapter 26: O Merry Mine
Very sweet! Such a loving relationship between Frodo and his Merry. Merry offered his big cousin so much love and support - and security. All unknowingly, at least at first! And he learned the lessons that made him such a good big cousin in his own turn.
Author's reply
Thank you so much, Bodkin. You're doing so wonderfully at writing Aragorn's growing up alongside Elrond's sons, I felt seeing how Frodo and Merry grew up alongside one another. And so it was indeed that he learned how to be a big brother to Pippin. So glad you liked it.
SlightlyTookish
· 8 February 2007
· Chapter 26: O Merry Mine
This is absolutely lovely. A wonderful story of cousins and friendship and love.
Author's reply
Thank you, SlightlyTookish. And there was a good deal of love between these three, for Merry and Pippin to have assured Frodo they'd keep his secrets even better than he did.
Baggins Babe
· 8 February 2007
· Chapter 26: O Merry Mine
A wonderful look at the relationship between Frodo and Merry, then Merry and Pip, until they are all reunited at last.
Touching but so typical of honest Frodo, that he will not make promises which cannot be kept. He knows that you cannot always promise never to leave, but the links of love had been forged and they will never be broken, no matter how far they are stretched.
Author's reply
I can't see Frodo making a promise he couldn't count on keeping. Am so glad you appear to feel that way, too. But he'd make certain they were reunited when the time came, of that I'm certain.
Endaewen
· 8 February 2007
· Chapter 26: O Merry Mine
Lovely. The same scene repeated again and again. Each time it brought an even wider smile to my face.
Author's reply
Perhaps not quite the same scene, but the love repeatedly expressed as changing circumstances made it necessary. Am so glad you liked it.
Armariel
· 7 February 2007
· Chapter 26: O Merry Mine
Just.....beautiful. What more can I say?
~~~{~@~~~{~@~~~{~@~~~{~@~~~{~@~~~{~@
Author's reply
Thank you so very much, Armariel. And am looking forward to your next offering.
Queen Galadriel
· 7 February 2007
· Chapter 26: O Merry Mine
I knew before I started this that it was going to make me cry. :) But it's so joyous, and written in my favourite of your styles of writing short stories, reflecting so many sweet "Moment's in Tim" over the years. It illustrates so beautifully how that brotherly bond was passed from Frodo and Merry to Merry and Pippin, and of course shared among the three. All these little scenes seem so natural and real and alive.
God bless,
Galadriel
Author's reply
Am so glad it pleases, my Lady. Yes, I was indeed trying for a series of moments in time showing the growth of the relationships. I seem to write so many stories from Pippin's point of view, and this time I wanted to have something that was definitely Merry.
I certainly tried to make these realistic, and am glad you find them so.
Thanks so much, and am glad you like it.
Radbooks
· 7 February 2007
· Chapter 26: O Merry Mine
That was very nice... very sweet. I liked the building relationship between the two of them from such a young age - you know it was there. It would have been so difficult for Merry when Frodo left the Hall to go and live with Bilbo. I also liked the dreams that Merry and Pippin had... a foreshadowing of things to come. Very enjoyable!
Author's reply
Am very glad this does reflect the building of the relationships I was trying for. And I certainly agree, for Frodo to have left the Hall must have torn terribly at Frodo.
Thanks so much for the response.
Andrea
· 7 February 2007
· Chapter 26: O Merry Mine
Dear Larner, thank you very much for this story! I can only find one word to describe it: Beautiful!
You know, Frodo and Merry have always been my favourite hobbits. Both of them have much in common, but each is special in his own way. There has always been a close relationship between Frodo and his Merry, maybe even closer than that between Frodo and Sam.
It makes me glad to see them united in the end!
Author's reply
Oh, thank you so very much, Andrea. And I can't imagine that at the end Merry would have not immediately have found himself reunited with his Frodo on leaving this life. So very glad you appreciate it!
shirebound
· 7 February 2007
· Chapter 26: O Merry Mine
Oh Larner, this story just had me captivated from beginning to end. I love how clearly and matter-of-factly Frodo answered Merry's questions, and how the threads of Frodo's arm and Merry's constant love were woven throughout.
Author's reply
I think that the love the two had for one another would have been a constant in their lives, and that Frodo, as a basically honest person, would find himself answering Merry as straightforwardly as he could always. And having had a foster son who always would pillow his head on my right arm when he'd creep into bed with me, I was speaking from experience there.
Pearl Took
· 7 February 2007
· Chapter 26: O Merry Mine
This was well done! It's a wonder that Frodo was ever able to use his right arm ;-)
Author's reply
Oh, thank you, Pearl Took. And I agree about the right arm! (Grinning!)
Dreamflower
· 7 February 2007
· Chapter 26: O Merry Mine
Oh!
Oh I just love this. It's just breathtakingly beautiful, how the two of them take care of one another through the years, funny and sad by turns.
Poor Merry, so afraid of losing his wonderful brother/cousin--yet Frodo found him again in the end.
*sniffle*
Author's reply
I'm so glad you like it, Dreamflower. But this is how I see their relationship; and I'm certain the first one Merry would wish to see on his own release would be Frodo.
Kitty
· 29 January 2007
· Chapter 25: Conspirators' Yule
Sorry for the late review - tried at least twice before, but kept being interrupted every time until I gave up. Very frustrating.
Pippin knows his cousin so well - I was glad he knew Merry would need him. I truly love the way how they are there for each other. And Melilot was a nice addition to this chapter - she was so understanding and asked the right questions to get them to talk about the Quest and all that without making them too sad. It is good to have them talking about it - I think they need it.
Pippin has done his duty very well, it seems, as Merry forgot his grief enough to ask Estella finally to marry him :-) How very fitting to use the ring Frodo gave him.
Oh, and it was very nice of Dahlia to sent him the sculpture of Lindir as a little comfort. I think it meant a lot to him.
Author's reply
In the story I wrote about Sam and the picture Frodo painted for Dahlia I indicated she intended to send another gift she'd received from him and Merry to Merry this Yule, and I wanted to see what it was. But that first Yule without Frodo must have been pretty difficult.
I do think that Merry would have married fairly soon after Frodo left, and that Frodo, having foreseen it was likely, would have done something special to try to let Merry know he was all for it before he left. After all, Merry was his first surrogate brother, I think.
As for doing reviews and having them interrupted--have been going through that for days. Having a satellite connection in need of a newer receiver, I get intermittent reception on many days, so it's become almost a given any more.
Bodkin
· 14 January 2007
· Chapter 25: Conspirators' Yule
I can see Eglantine's frustration - she wants her own lad there to see that he's all right. But the lad has grown up, and now takes responsibility for others.
I like the proposal ... not very romantic, perhaps, but spoken in front of witnesses! And the suggestion that Mac has already done the business, back when they were children.
Mourning the past - but moving towards the future. They just have to, really. Not much else they can do. They'll always regret that they couldn't help Frodo heal.
Author's reply
Mac has definitely preserved the marriage contract Merry and Estella badgered a student Brendilac into writing for a play wedding they bullied Frodo into officiating at back when Frodo and Brendi were tweens and they were but children; and now, with Frodo's grandmother's ring as promise token, the two of them are going to do it for real, and at least have the feeling that Frodo is as much a part of this wedding as he was of the play one so many years previous.
No, not particularly romantic, but Merry's making certain no one will be in any doubt of his intentions.
And life is, so often, moving through the grief of the past into the joys of the present and the anticipation of future events. As you note, not much else they can do; but in letting Frodo go they've done all they can to aide him in healing, and in the end that is enough. And all the conspirators and would-be conspirators are beginning to share what they must for their own healing, and realize they can hold to one another.
Thanks!
Linda Hoyland
· 14 January 2007
· Chapter 25: Conspirators' Yule
A very human and familiar scenario of the pain of not being there for a festival.Very touchingly told.
Author's reply
Christmas is often the hardest holiday to get through when grief is present--so many folks, including my late husband told me and so I've found myself in the last couple years as I've found the loss of him grows worse.
Thanks so for the review.
SlightlyTookish
· 12 January 2007
· Chapter 21: Tall Men with Stars on their Cloaks
This is delightful! I love reading about pre-quest meetings between hobbits and Rangers, and Frodo behaved most responsibly here. I especially love how Pippin could see both Aragorn and Frodo's lights shining :)
Author's reply
Oh, I'm so glad you enjoyed this, here, SlightlyTookish. As for Frodo being responsible--I suspect around his younger cousins he tended indeed to be very much the bigger brother as much as possible.
Thanks so much for the response.
Radbooks
· 12 January 2007
· Chapter 25: Conspirators' Yule
Oh, this was very, very good, Larner! I enjoyed seeing Merry and Pippin together... grieving together and mostly that Pippin was there to comfort Merry during that time. Even though it was difficult for Pippin, Merry was even closer to Frodo and the loss was even harder for him.
Loved how Merry proposed to Estella! That was a great way to do it. :)
I think there is an extra line at the very end of the story that doesn't belong there.
Author's reply
Yes, a line got lost elsewhere and turned up at the end, so I just took it out--or at least I think I did.
Yes, Merry was closer to Frodo than was Pippin, and I do think that Pippin would desire to make certain he was handling his first Yule with no promise of seeing Frodo well.
Grief is such a funny thing, coming and going in waves as it does. But I think that Frodo already had a strong idea where Merry's heart was going, and would have wanted in some way to be a part of it, even if it was contributing his grandmother's ring to the process. And now, when he looks at the marriage contract Brendi wrote so long ago, he and Estella will remember it was Frodo who officiated the "first" time, and who always wished to see each happy, even if it meant playing at pretend marriages with children as a rehearsal for what one day would come.